Nurses at Risk for PTSD

PTSD is an occupational hazard for nursing. It is estimated that up to 14 percent of the overall general nursing population experience symptoms that meet the criteria to be diagnosed with PTSD, which is 4 times higher than the general adult population.
Critical care and emergency department (ED) nurses have a higher incidence of PTSD symptoms. As many as 25 percent of critical care nurses 33 percent of ED nurses have screened positive for symptoms of PTSD. Contributing factors for these areas may be the repeated exposure to mortality and morbidity. Nurses in these specialty areas often have repeated exposure to both the victims of traumatic event, as nurses in these specialties witness more deaths.
Other groups of nurses considered especially vulnerable to PTSD are military nurses, nurses in labor and delivery units, as well as those who are first responders to respond to disasters and may witness multiple deaths in one event. Among many other traumatic events that contribute to nurses developing PTSD are occupational hazards such as needlesticks and threats of violence from the patient and family members.
Another closely related problem is fatigue - a reality in nursing. Every day, during every shift, nurses can experience fatigue of their minds, bodies and spirits. Workload, work hours, work structures and many other factors can indirectly or directly cause fatigue in this professional group.
Professional, caring, competent, compassionate, and courageous nurses are what the public expects and the patients and families who entrust us with their care deserve. As nurses and nurse leaders, we have an obligation to be "fit for duty" when reporting to work, and a duty to construct and support healthy work environments for optimizing professional practice.
I believe this is probably why I am now retired from nursing. Not diagnosed as PTSD - but I have all the same symptoms described above after thirty four years of nursing.
I switched careers to writing - without the stress and worry that someone's life was in my hands. Instead I educate through blogs, writing articles, and books.

Headaches

Chronic headaches can be very debilitating. I personally experience migraine, cluster, tension, TMJ, sinus and other headaches.
As a nurse I feel frustrated that I can't make my body respond and get better. I'm sure other headache sufferers feel very similar.

Here are a few tips I have found useful.

1. Get enough sleep. Go to bed at the same time. Use your bed for sleep and nothing else.
2. Avoid extreme Noise and Bright or Flashing lights whenever possible. If you are experiencing a headache go to a quiet dark room and rest with ice applied to your head and or neck.
3. Keep a log of when your headaches happen, try to identify the inciting event such as eating a certain food, a stressful situation, and so forth. Note how long the headache lasts and what you did to relieve it.
4.) Share this log with your doctor. If you haven't sought out professional medical assistance do so now. Do not ignore or gloss over persistent or chronic headaches. They can be the sign of another problem that requires proper attention.
5.) Know your limits. Learn how to say no.
6.) Give yourself relaxation and fun time.

The following physicians have been extremely helpful to me:
1.) Carol Foster MD at Headache Clinic - Valley Neurological
2.) Dr. Joseph R. Cohen at Southwest Pain Management Associates
3.) The entire staff at Foothills Neurology.
4.) Andrea Orlowski NMD at Inner Light Health
5.) Jason Porter NMD at East Valley Naturopathic.

There are many other qualified physicians in the Phoenix Metro area. If you don't live in this part of the world seek out professional assistance where you are at.

May you have a happy and healthy 2010,
Rachel Andersen

When Caregivers Need Help

One category of caregiver that needs support and tends to be overlooked is the mental health provider, be it psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, social worker, behavioral health tech, hot-line operator or other numerous personnel in the field field - both civilian and military. A psychiatric injury acquired on the battlefield, from trauma, or from chronic exposure to other's distress is not readily recognized or acknowledged. Their wounds are hidden. They do not bleed, cause physical deformity or other visibly notable signs.

I know from personal experience that debriefing after an event is helpful - but may not even scratch the surface of the abscess that forms after emotionally disturbing situations. Caregivers are reluctant to confess to needing aid to find comfort or solace after a shock. Doctors, nurses, counselors and chaplains receive repeated jolts to their psyche as a matter of course performing their duties. When in the military the strain is compounded immeasurably.

The tragic incident at Ft. Hood has brutally brought this issue to the forefront. Scott & White nurses in Texas had to quickly combine critical thinking skills to deal with the fall out while testing their mass casualty plan on November 5th. Urgency demanded expedient care and military patients were transported to civilian facilities. Our country has not experienced this phenomenon much, since war usually doesn't take place on our soil.

It appears that one of Homeland Securities' functions will need to be preparing for attack from within. It looks like mental health needs were ignored when gearing up our defenses. The focus has been on nuclear fall out, bio-weapons, terrorism, and other physical items. A holistic approach would demand that the mental, emotional, spiritual and social well being of the nation's be considered as important as infrastructure, munitions, intelligence and so forth.

Temptation to ignore what some call "fluff" during economic stress is strong. Let's not forget to take care of our whole selves no matter what kind of care giver we are. If we don't, we won't be available when needed and become part of the problem instead.